St Margaret's Gospel-book: The Favourite Book of an Eleventh-Century Queen of Scots (review)

In this slim, beautifully illustrated volume, Rebecca Rushforth presents the biography of a very precious historical witness to a defining era for the medieval kingdom of Scotland. Although set into the context of the life and career of Margaret (c.1046–93), second wife of King Malcolm III, the queen is not the primary focus here; it is her personal gospel-book that is the central character. Pre-twelfth-century manuscripts with Scottish connections are rare: pre-twelfth-century manuscripts possessing firm associations with a major figure in Scotland's history rarer still. The survival of this unique treasure—even more remarkable given its accidental loss in a river during Margaret's own lifetime, an event recorded by the queen's biographer and confirmed by a Latin poem inserted at the beginning of the gospel-book—provides a rare glimpse into the private thoughts and personal beliefs of a woman who had an immediate and profound influence on the shaping and directing of the spiritual, cultural, and political life of her husband's kingdom.

Although provided with full academic apparatus, the text is aimed at an informed lay readership. The historical context in which Margaret is set, the political relationships around her, and the complex kinship connections at the heart of which she and her husband stood are presented in a straightforward narrative that flags up areas of contention and debate without becoming bogged down in detail. Likewise, the posthumous reputation of Margaret, the queen and saint, and the uses to which she was put as "the perfect princess" and a symbol of union and amity, are offered only in summary. It is in the third chapter that the text comes alive in an expanded discussion of the format of the book, the materials used, and how it was physically assembled, written, and illustrated. The context of its production highlights the level of elite female literacy in late Anglo-Saxon England and underscores the importance of nunneries like Romsey or Wilton as refuges for high-status women and preservers of native English culture in the immediate post-Conquest period. The discussion of the gospel-book's contents is cautious, raising the suggestion that the selection was personal to Margaret, but admitting that this cannot be proven. There is some limited analysis of the texts, their contents, and liturgical associations. Here, more consideration of the significance of the material chosen would have been helpful, perhaps offering clearer insight into its compiler's aims for the gospel-book.

Given the intended readership of the volume, there are few legitimate criticisms that can be made. It could be said that the historical narrative that underpins the discussion is oversimplified. For example, some more details of her childhood in the spiritual hothouse of mid-eleventh-century Hungary and the influence that her exposure there to the missionary zeal and reforming energy of the recently formed national church would, perhaps, have helped to set Margaret's personal faith firmly into context. That, possibly, might have permitted greater insight into the personal meanings for her that the gospel-book's content held or were intended to have by its maker. But a more detailed historical analysis would have changed the balance of the text and shifted the focus from the gospel-book to its owner. Instead, if we wish to know more about context, Rushforth points us in the direction of the main authorities. The book's one flaw is a copyediting error: the numbering of the illustrations does not correspond with the in-text references. But that is more of an irritation than a failure and does not detract from what is otherwise a splendid introduction to one of the Bodleian Library's lesser-known gems.